Fetal stem cells

Wliich is not a complication for embryonic or fetal stem cell transplant therapy ... 

Krabbe C, Bask ST, Jensen P et al (2014) Influence of oxygen tension on dopaminergic differentiation of human fetal stem cells of midbrain and forebrain origin. PLoS One 9 e96465... 

Wu, P., Tarasenko,Y. I., Gu,Y., Huang, L. Y., Coggeshall, R. E. and Yu, Y. Region-specific generation of cholinergic neurons from fetal human neural stem cells grafted in adult rat. Nat. Neurosci. 5 1271-1278,2002. 

Haynes, B.F. and Heinly, C.S. Early human T cell development analysis of the human thymus at the time of initial entry of hematopoietic stem cells into the fetal thymic microenvironment, J. Exp. Med., 181, 1445, 1995. 

Recently, it has been possible to grow cells of the human immune system in special mice. These mice carry a genetic defect called severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), which leaves them with crippled immune systems, much like those in AIDS patients. Because SCID mice lack functional cellular immunity, it is possible to implant them with human cells without tissue rejection taking place. Researchers have recently developed techniques to implant human fetal tissues containing stem cells for the blood into SCID mice. It is then possible to reconstitute these mice with functional human immune system cells, including T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes. They have also found that if these SCID mice are infected by HIV, the virus will establish infection in the human tissue and destroy the T helper lymphocytes, just as it does in humans. Thus, it may be possible to study some of the mechanisms by which HIV attacks the immune system in these mice. In addition, they may be very useful for testing potential antiviral drugs. 

This paper covers our recent results devoted to cryopreservation of hemopoietic stem cells from cord blood and human fetal liver. 

Colony forming ability of the fetal liver cells was determined in the medium comprised 1.3% methylcellulose, 4.0 mM glutamine, 10 U/ml penicillin/-streptomycin, 100 U/ml GM-CSF, 100 U/ml IL-3, 50 ng/ml stem cell factor and 10 U/ml erythropoietin in IMDM. An aliquot of 10 cells was transferred to a 35 mm sterile plastic Petri dish and incubated at 37 C in a fully humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2 in air. The final colony count was performed on day 14 of culture, the colony types being defined by general morphological criteria. 

Fig. 7.8 New paradigm of the heart. (A) Cardiac niches contain stem cells, which, after activation, give rise to myocytes and vascular structures. (B-E) Dividing myocytes (a-sarcomeric actin, red) in fetal (B), neonatal (C), adult (D),...

Lymphocytes and cells of the myeloid lineage develop from primordial stem cells in the fetal liver and bone marrow. Their development is affected by interaction... 

To further evaluate the role of CRH in both neuroendocrine and behavioral functions, a mammalian model of CRH deficiency has been generated by targeted mutation in embryonic stem cells (Mugha et al. 1995). CRH-deficient mice reveal a fetal glucocorticoid requirement for lung maturation. Postnatally, they display marked glucocorticoid deficiency and an impaired endocrine response to stress (Jacobson et al. 2000 Mugha et al. 1995). 

A potentially promising, although very controversial, approach to the treatment of Parkinson s disease is replacement of dopaminergic neurons. The grafting of fetal substantia nigra tissue, which contains the dopamine neurons, into the striatum of parkinsonian patients has been modestly successful. The procedure will remain experimental, however, until the many practical problems and ethical issues associated with the use of fetal tissue are resolved. The discovery of pluripotent stem cells is also being viewed as a possible way of developing dopamine neurons for transplant purposes. 

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